


A Cozy Spot to Read

by SML8180



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Books, Cold-Blooded Deceit | Janus Sanders, Deceit | Janus Sanders-centric, Domestic, Gen, He's not totally cold-blooded but he runs cold, How Do I Tag, Kinda, Reading, Sympathetic Deceit | Janus Sanders, Worldbuilding, i guess?, other sides are mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 05:54:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29961915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SML8180/pseuds/SML8180
Summary: Janus finally told Thomas and the other Sides his name, and the Mindscape had shifted to accommodate the fact that all of the Sides had now been accepted in some way. As such, a number of changes have been made, but at least the library is still a cozy spot to read.
Kudos: 26





	A Cozy Spot to Read

Janus had revealed his name just over two years after he’d first shown himself to Thomas. It hadn’t been an easy thing to do, being so open and honest and  _ vulnerable _ in front of him and the others. Patton and Thomas hadn’t had much of a reaction, while Roman…

He didn’t want to think about that; not right now. There were too many other things he was still processing.

The most pressing matter was the shifting of the Mindscape. Back when Thomas had been a young child, still learning what  _ “Right” _ and  _ “Wrong” _ even were, the Mindscape where the Sides resided had been extremely different. It had been a single plane in the boy’s mind, where all the Sides he had at the time lived. Back then, by the time Janus came around at least, there were three others. At that point, none of them had names, they were all simply Deceit, Morality, Creativity, and Logic.

Things were a bit chaotic, from time to time, but they all got along. Everything turned upside-down when Anxiety turned up. The Mindscape had shattered and rebuilt itself in a completely different way. No longer was there a single home for the Sides; there was a Dark Scape and a Light Scape, separated by a long staircase. Deceit and Anxiety found themselves in the Dark Scape, while the others were still above them.

As time went on, the pair built a life for themselves away from the others. They formed their own routine, learned about one another, and even came up with their own names. Anxiety chose the name Virgil, after Deceit had told him about the Roman poet following the older Side catching him working on a poem in order to calm himself down one night. Deceit had named himself Janus, after the Roman god of beginnings, transitions, time, endings, and duality; it had felt like a good fit, in his mind, especially as the god was often depicted with two faces, and Janus himself had a distinct appearance of his own, with the right half of his face seeming perfectly human, and the left being covered in scales and appearing snake-like.

The pair was eventually joined by another Side. The newcomer, who called himself The Duke, appeared to be a young teen, certainly looking younger than Janus and Virgil, and was clearly in distress. Virgil had locked himself away, uncertain of the new Side, while Janus had spent the entire night listening to the Duke’s story of what had happened, consoling him and trying to reassure him that things would be alright. Eventually, the Duke chose the name Remus for himself, found a black key in his room, and found that the key unlocked the final door of the house, allowing Remus to access the Imagination.

The shift following Janus being accepted by Thomas was just as chaotic and violent as the first major shift of the Mindscape. The staircase was gone, there was no more Light Scape and Dark Scape, there was only Thomas’ Mindscape again. The kitchen, dining area, and living area were all larger than they had ever been, and the library had expanded, as well. Each of the Sides’ rooms were larger, and the space was generally set up much better for the six Sides now residing in one space.

Janus couldn’t resist exploring the new Mindscape, though he did so far less excitedly than the other Sides. He got himself familiar with some of the things that were different, before eventually deciding to investigate the expanded library collection. He had decided to ditch his more elaborate outfit for something simpler; a set of black slacks, yellow socks (as almost none of the Sides wore proper shoes unless Thomas needed them, most wore slippers or socks of some sort, except for Remus, who preferred to go barefoot), and a long sleeved yellow polo shirt with his snake logo stitched into the left side of the chest.

Upon entering the library, Janus was met with the familiar cozy feeling and smell of books he’d grown to love. The color scheme was a bit different, with the room no longer being all a White Cherry color with the occasional yellow or purple to break things up. Now, the room was a fair mix of Carolina blue and Golden Oak, providing a calming, comfortable atmosphere. He spotted a familiar chess set off to one side of the room, in a little nook, set up for a game. Instead of the usual black and white, the pieces were royal blue and golden yellow.

Many of the bookcases were set into the walls, though there were a couple of free-standing bookcases, as well. Janus steered himself away from the chess set for the time being, deciding instead to look through the books neatly arranged on the shelves around him. He eventually found a book that caught his attention,  _ The Murder of Roger Ackroyd _ , a title he’d been meaning to read for some time, but he simply hadn’t gotten around to it. The yellow-clad man plucked the book from its place on the shelf, and made his way to the more open area of the library where there were plenty of places to sit.

In the open seating area of the library, Janus spotted the hanging pod chair he’d enjoyed sitting in back in the Dark Scape library, along with his heat lamp standing beside it. He smiled to himself, striding over to the familiar little spot and turning on the heat lamp. The man wasn’t cold blooded, not entirely, but his body temperature did run far colder than the others; he produced  _ some  _ body heat, just not nearly enough, leading to him rarely wearing anything less than a long sleeved shirt outside his room. This fact had also led to there being a handful of heat lamps and electric blankets being dotted around the Dark Scape, many of which had made their way into the shared Mindscape. Janus settled into the hanging pod chair, pulling his legs up into the small space and finding a comfortable position, letting the chair swing a little bit as he settled down with the book he’d chosen.

The book in his hands was in extremely good condition; the only indication that it had been read or even handled being the neat writing on the inside of the front cover,  _ Logan Sanders _ , with a list of several dates below the name. Judging by the number of dates in the list, likely indicating the times Logan had finished reading the book, Janus was able to easily conclude that it was one the Logical Side enjoyed greatly.

Janus settled in, and for a good couple of hours, he sat in the comfortable silence of the library, reading. He was so caught up in the story unfolding before him, he hadn’t even heard one of the others enter the library.

“Ah,  _ The Murder of Roger Ackroyd _ ,” Logan’s voice pulled Janus from his thoughts, actually making him jump a bit.

“It’s good, so far. I can see why you enjoy it,” Janus calmly replied, looking up towards the other man.

“The others have informed me not to spoil the ending, but I can say that it may be my favorite book,” Logan informed him. The Logical Side took a seat in a comfortable-looking armchair across from Janus, settling down with a book of his own.

“ _ The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle _ ,” Janus mused, “It seems we’re both giving each other’s favorite titles a try.”

The scaled Side watched as his counterpart opened the book, finding the name  _ Janus Sanders _ written on the inside of the front cover, followed by several dates. They both clearly used the same method of keeping track of their own reading habits.

“It would seem so,” Logan replied with a warm, though short-lived, chuckle.

The two Sides settled into a comfortable silence, each enjoying the other’s company and the book in their hands. The library, much like the rest of the Mindscape, was different now, yes, but there was one thing neither of them could deny; it was still a very comfortable, cozy spot to read.


End file.
